Buffalo Sabres at Washington Capitals, NHL forecast
The short version
- No betting line is up yet, so this is our pre-line forecast: the Capitals at 55%, from our Elo ratings and what past lines said about each team. It switches to the line once one posts.
- Behind that number: the Capitals have home ice.
What's at stake
Each team's chance to make the playoffs if it wins this game and if it loses, from 10,000 simulations of the rest of the season.
Sabres
Now 51%
54%
with a win
48%
with a loss
This game is worth 7 points of playoff chance to them.
Capitals
Now 63%
67%
with a win
59%
with a loss
This game is worth 8 points of playoff chance to them.
The pick
No line is posted yet, so this is the pre-line forecast: Elo blended with ratings learned from past lines. It switches to the line once one is posted.
Capitals 55%
Forecast Elo ratings alone
How often that comes true: NHL favorites the forecast gave 50–55% have won 51.2% of 926 graded games.
- Market
- No line yet
- Pre-line forecast
- WSH 55%
- Elo + market-implied
- Elo ratings
- WSH 55%
- Fair odds
- WSH -120
- BUF +120 · the forecast as odds, no margin
- Projected score
- BUF 3.0 – 3.3 WSH
- Margin from the forecast, total from team scoring ratings
How the number is built
Elo inputs in rating points (higher favors that team; 25–28 Elo is about a point of spread in football and basketball), then how the pieces combine.
| Factor | BUF | WSH | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team rating | 1526 | 1526 | Elo entering the game; 1500 is league average |
| Home field | — | +35 | Worth 35 Elo in the NHL |
| Starting goalies | — | — | BUF: Starter not announced · WSH: Starter not announced |
| Elo ratings | WSH +35 Elo | WSH 55.0% | |
| Market-implied ratings | WSH 54.4% | Team strength as past closing lines priced it, same game context | |
| Pre-line forecast | WSH 54.5% | 20% Elo, 80% market-implied (log-odds blend) | |
Tale of the tape
This season coming into the game, regular season, each number with its league rank (the longer the bar, the higher). Home and road: the host's record at home against the visitor's on the road. Overtime and shootout losses count as losses in these records. Opponent Elo: how strong the teams each has played are, 1st the toughest. Shot share is a team's share of the shots on goal in its games. PDO adds shooting and save percentages: far from 100 tends to even out.
| BUF | Stat | WSH |
|---|---|---|
| 21st of 322.9 | Goals scored | 3.59th of 32 |
| 21st of 323.4 | Goals allowed | 3.320th of 32 |
| 23rd of 32−0.4 | Margin | +0.213th of 32 |
| 11th of 3251.2% | Shot share | 49.5%15th of 32 |
| 27th of 3288.0% | Save percentage | 88.8%20th of 32 |
| 14th of 325–5 | Last 10 | 7–32nd of 32 |
| 11th of 324–4 | Road vs home | 7–412th of 32 |
| 17th of 321499 | Opponent Elo | 15213rd of 32 |
| 10th of 321526 | Elo rating | 152611th of 32 |
Rating history
Each team's Elo over the last two seasons. Hover or drag to compare on any date.
Injury report
Current ESPN report. Elo values show what the model subtracts.
Sabres
4 listedAlex Lyon G
Injured ReserveLyon (shoulder) will travel with the Sabres during the team's upcoming road trip, per Heather Engel of NHL.com.
Konsta Helenius C
OutHelenius (upper body) is week-to-week, according to Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic on Monday.
Justin Danforth RW
Injured ReserveDanforth (upper body) was placed on injured reserve Thursday, per the NHL media site.
Matt Grzelcyk D
Injured ReserveGrzelcyk (lower body) suffered a "flare-up" and could be out for at least "a few days," head coach Lindy Ruff told Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News on Tuesday.
Capitals
3 listedRasmus Sandin D
Injured ReserveSandin (knee) will be with the Capitals for their two-game road trip, Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network reports Monday.
Vincent Desharnais D
Injured Reserveir
Patrick Thomas C
Injured Reserveir-nr
Recent form
Last five results, and whether the forecast hit.
Against the line
How each team has done against the closing spread and total, coming into this game.
| This season |  BUF |  WSH |
|---|---|---|
| Puck line | 8–8 | 7–8 |
| Last 10 | 6–4 | 4–6 |
| Favorite | 3–5 | 4–5 |
| Underdog | 5–3 | 3–3 |
| Overs–unders | 9–7 | 9–6 |
| Overs–unders, last 10 | 6–4 | 6–4 |
Against each game's closing line. Books set every line knowing these records: across 3,901 past games, the team with the better record against the spread so far that season covered 51.2%, short of the 52.4% a standard −110 bet needs, and over/under streaks held 48.0% of the time. They describe the past.
Head to head
BUF 5–5 WSH in their last 10 meetings; the forecast called 6 of 10.